Groningen Centre for Health Law

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been a constant advocate for the promotion of taxation on sugary beverages in order to combat the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In January 2014, the Mexican government enacted a law with a taxation rate of 10%, an increase of one peso, on sugary beverages. At the time, 32.8% of the Mexican population was obese, and the country was considered to have the largest obesity rate in the world, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization. Studies show that Mexico’s sugar tax led to a continuous decrease in consumption seen within its first two years of implementation.  This raises the question:  To what extent would it be effective to implement taxation on sugary beverages as seen in Mexico in 2014, within the Netherlands?

Er zijn inmiddels al vele onderzoekers die samen de Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health vormen. Onder hen is prof. mr. dr. Brigit Toebes, adjunct hoogleraar Internationaal Gezondheidsrecht. Zij lichtte tijdens de Aletta Research Meet Up van 14 december jl. in haar pitch al toe welke rol haar discipline kan spelen bij het vergroten van de volksgezondheid. Lees in deze blog meer over hoe Toebes de toekomst van Aletta ziet en hoe zij met haar onderzoek bij wil dragen aan meer gezonde jaren.

The Dutch civil servants pension fund ABP continues to invest in the tobacco industry. This contribution looks at these investments from the perspective of international law, in particular the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and human rights law.

NRC Handelsblad’s Saturday 25 November issue contains an entry of eleven pages entirely devoted to sugar. It discusses a broad range of topics related to sugar, including the role of sugar throughout the centuries, sugar consumption in the Netherlands, the amount of sugar in bread, and sugar production. Several scientists are quoted in an attempt to rebut the increasing scientific claim that sugar consumption causes overweight and obesity. A closer look at this entry shows that it is in fact an advertisement from Royal Cosun, an agro-industrial concern of the Dutch sugar beet producers. Given the neutral presentation of the entry, the reader is easily confused and misled about its content. How much leeway should the industry be given in promoting its products in a newspaper?

The movement to delink the cost of developing medicines from their market price received another boost this week, with the publication of a new report from the Netherlands Council for Public Health and Society, an official government advisory body.

On 16 October 2017, GHLG member Marlies Hesselman participated in an event on new CEDAW General Recommendation 36 on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate. This two-part post is based on Hesselman’s commentary in response to the presentation of the Draft General Recommendation by CEDAW Committee member Hilary Gbedemah. Part I of this entry discussed the intimate links between gender, health, climate and disaster risk reduction and included examples of practical challenges for women.

By and large, international health law is taken as a nascent branch of public international law and is still in the making.[1] These days, the issue of public health draws global spotlight and the response of the international community seemed promising though it requires concerted and cooperative solutions. As part of this process, regional organisations have played a pivotal role in the making or unmaking of norms. For instance, courts or commissions established internationally or regionally—have developed some concepts and made interesting pronouncements about the right to health.

On 16 October 2017, GHLG member Marlies Hesselman participated in an event on the new CEDAW General Recommendation on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate. This two-part post is based on her commentary in response to the presentation of the Draft General Recommendation by CEDAW Committee member Hilary Gbedemah, and is published on the occasion of COP23 in Bonn.